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Water cess worth Rs 1,907.28 crore is pending on different industries and commercial organisations in Odisha.
Out of the total arrear, cases worth Rs 1,553.52 crore are still locked up in courts of law, making it tough for the state to realise the arrears.
Industries whose water cess dues are yet to be disposed off by courts include Mahanadi Coalfields Ltd- MCL, Talcher (Rs 241.51 crore), National Aluminium Company - Nalco (Rs 358.20 crore), Tata Steel, Joda (Rs 49.67 crore), Reliance Industries, Dhenkanal (Rs 13.79 crore) and Steel Authority of India Ltd- SAIL (Rs 45.37 crore) to name a few. Water tax dues outside courts are pending against Rohit Ferro Tech, Mishrilal Mines, Paradeep Port Trust (PPT), Maheswary Ispat, KVK Nilachal and Odisha Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (Idco), Kalinganagar.
Chief minister Naveen Patnaik, in a written reply to the state assembly, said, the state government is taking various steps to expedite recovery of water cess dues from the defaulting industries. A committee has been formed under the chairmanship of the chief secretary to help recover long standing water cess dues from the industrial units. To expedite recovery of water cess arrears, the state government has constituted a squad chaired by the chief minister and necessary instructions are being given to the industries to pay off the dues.
